Winfield-Mt. Union takes out Pekin in district quarterfinal

By ANDY KRUTSINGER

Mt. Pleasant News

WINFIELD ? The Winfield-Mt. Union boys? basketball team will be moving on to the district semi-finals after a fourth quarter spree led the Wolves to a 48-41 win over Pekin on Thursday night. The 24-point fourth quarter output was enough to move W-MU to the semi-finals where they will look for shootout revenge over Holy Trinity.

Nerves may have played a part in a low-scoring first half. Shots weren?t falling for either team, despite a persistence to get inside for higher percentage looks. Garret Baker was the only W-MU player to rattle in more than one basket in the half and led all scorers with six points going into the break.

Brady Donovan hit the only three-pointer of the half for either team and led the Panthers with five points. Pekin led 9-6 going into the second quarter, but a cold spell doomed the Panthers to only two second-quarter points and the Wolves held a slim 14-11 lead at the break.

W-MU would hold the lead for most of the third quarter, getting out to a 22-18 lead with three minutes to go in the period, but a 7-2 Pekin run to end the third gave the Panthers a 25-24 lead going into the final quarter.

In the fourth, the Wolves turned up the pressure, forcing the Panthers to play at a high-scoring pace and allowing W-MU to get out in transition. Junior guard Zach Davis pushed the action, slicing inside for scoring opportunities and forcing the Panthers to foul. By the final minutes, two Panther starters, Cole Reighard and Ryan Swanson, were out of the game with five fouls.

The Panthers had a full-court press on in the last two minutes, trying to get back in the game by forcing turnovers. Davis raced up the court, getting over the half-court line to avoid a ten-second call, and then called his own number. He shot through the lane, avoiding Pekin defenders trying to strip the ball and put in a layup to all but end it. Despite some shaky W-MU free throws late, the Wolves survived and advanced to the district semifinals.

Davis finished the game with a team-leading 14 points for the Wolves. Baker finished with 12. Sam Jennings had 11 points, including the team?s only three-pointer, which was also only the second three-point basket he has made all year. Bryce Robison scored nine points in the game, and Colton Hinkle finished with two.

Keaton Winn did his best in the second half to steal the win for the Panthers. He hit three three-pointers en route to a game-high 16 second-half points and finished with 20. Donovan was the only other Panther in double digits with 11. Swanson chipped in seven points, Reighard had two and Trevor Northup rounded out the scoring effort with one.

The Wolves will play Holy Trinity in Wayland on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. with the winner getting the winner of the Danville vs. Van Buren matchup, which starts at 6:30. The Crusaders used a 23-point fourth quarter to defeat W-MU 50-38 in the boys? shootout game last Friday.